Motor reverse control



Oct. 13, 1925. 1,557,047 E. F. GwYNN E1' AL MOTOR REVERSE CONTROL rned uw. 24', \1925 FIG. 2

Patented Oct. 13, 1925.

UNl'lE STATES rA'rEN'i orties.. j

EMMER r. `ew'iriviv AND HARRY n. Jar/ins, or' rrrrsBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,

MOTOR REVERSE CONTROL.

Application ena December aig 1923, serial No. 682,485.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we. EMMnn F. Gwynn and Hanni' H. Jarras, citizens ot the United States, and residents ot Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ott Pennsylvania, have invented a new and use-ful lmpiovement in Motor Reverse Controls; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Our invention relates to the control boxes ordinarily employed in electric elevators for operating the control board. lts object is to provide a novel and effective attachment tor preventing the lever oft the control box from being moved quickly from one operating position to the reverse position. The attachment herein described may be an integral part of the control box, but is preferably constructed as a separate device suitable tor attachment to any existing 'form of control boX.

Most of the troubles which are experienced with electrically operated elevators are caused when the operator tries to reverse thedirection in which the car is travcling before the speed has been substantially reduced. It the car is traveling at :tull speed in either direction and the open ator for some reason wishes to reverse quickly and go in the opposite direction, it is possible with ordinary control boxes Jfor the operator to move the lever on the control box to the reverse position Aso quickly that the resistancemagnets on the main control board do not release. Therefore, the armature of the motor will receive the full force of the running current when coming to a stop before reversing to the opposite direction, and in every such case one or moredisturbances are set up in the electric system. Among these may be mentioned thefblowing otffuses in the electric vcircuit'which may cause the car to stop midway between floors, causing aggravating delays until the fuse has been replaced; `thetlt'ishingHot' electric currei'itacross the brushes and commutator of the motor, by reason of the immense volume of current flowing atthe time of `quick reverse, 'which causesexp'ensive repairs andl is veryA 'detrimental to the lite ot the motor and other electric apparatus; the burning outot the armature windings which occurs in time after several reversing shocks "of this kind; and the extra 'strain on the cables,

gears, shafts, bearings 'and pulleys which` shortens the lite ot all the wearing parts ot the elevator and its equipment.

According to our present invention we provide a mechanical device which Vinterrupts the move-ment ot the control lever for a sufficient period ot time to permit the resistance magnets on the main control board to be released. This device consists fot a runway having off-set and overlapping grooves which are arrangedto receive a member carried by the handle of the control lever and which stop the movement of the lever until the handle is moved to bring the member into the other groove. This general arrangement ot oil-set grooves maybe modiiied by providing the overlapping ends of the grooves with terminal recesses which receive the projection of the lever handle, thus requiring that the lever be moved back a short distance from the end of the groove before being moved across to the other groove. Another modification consists in providing a central cavity which aiiords communication between the adjacent ends ot the oft-set grooves, and this cavity may be wider than the combined width of the two grooves. Such an arrangement is shown in our patent issued J une 17, 1924, No. 1,497,n 847, of which the present application is in part a continuation.` y

ln the accompanying drawing," Fig. l is a front elevational view of a welll nown type ot elevator control box equipped with a reverse control attachment constructed in accordance with our invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of the same control box and the control attachment; Fig.3 is aperspective view ot the runway shown in Figs. l and 2; l F 1g. e is plan view,with parts in section,

of the runway and handle, showing three diiijerent positions of the handle and the control lever; and Fig. 5 "is a plan view showing a modified form of device similar to that described in our above-mentioned prior application.

In the drawing the numeral 2 'indicates an elevator control box ot ordinary construction having the usual flange 3 at the upper part of its rearfside, and having the usual 'control lever t which is pivoted at 5, and is provided with a handle which moves in an arc corresponding to the curvature of the upper edge of the flange 3.

'- municate with flared surfaces 13 and 14 vwith the runway device 7.

which serve as guides to insure that the lever handle will cooperate properly with the grooves 9- and 10.

The construction of the control lever handle is best shown in Fig. 4. This handle consists of a hollow grip portion 15 which may suitably be composed of bre and is provided with a fibreI washer 16 to prevent the operators hand from coming in contact A sleeve 17, provided with a projecting disc 18, is secured rigidly to the glip portion 15, and a pin 19 extends slidably through the sleeve 17 and is secured at its outer end to the handle4.

The inner end of the pin'19 is drilled and tapped to receive a screw 20, the outer end of which carries a button 21. A spiral spring 22 is compressed between the hea-d of the button 21 and the inner end of the sleeve 17. Another spiral spring r23 surrounds thepin 19 near its outer end and is compressed between the lever 4 and the bottom of a recess 24 formed in the outer end ot the sleeve 17. The end of the grip portion 15 ot the handle is closed by means of a plug 25.

The operation of the device described above may be illustrated by assuming that the control lever and handle are in the position shown in dotted lines at the top of Fig. 4, and that the handle isbeing moved t0- ward the runway device 7. The disc 18 engages the flaring surface 13 and is guided into the groove 10. The continued Inovement of the handle in the same direction brings the disc 18 to the end 12 of the groove 10 and thus arrests ythe movement of the control lever andy handle. The operator must then move the handle back slightly to bring the disc 18 opposite to the recess 11,y

and must then push the handle inward to bring the disc 18 into the groove .9 before he Vcan continue moving the control lever in the motor-'reversing direction.

A similar series of movements take place when the control lever is moved through the runway from the position shown in dotted lines at the bottom of Fig. 4, the disc 18 in thiscase entering the groove 9 and, after being stopped at the end of this groove, being thus moved through the recess 11 into the groove 10. The springs22 and 23 hold the disc 18 in lOQked position in the central recess 11 of the runway device when the control lever is lett in its neutral position, this arrangement being shown in full lines on Fig. 4. 9

Our runway device and handle may be applied to any existing form of control boX. 1n some control boxes there is a recess on the flange 3 adjacent to the casing of the box, and in such a case this recess should be filled with a piece of leather or other suit-able material as indica-ted at 27. Also, some control boxes are so constructed that there will be a space between the bottom ot the runway device and the top of the control box, and iitthisv space exists it should be filled with leather or some other flexible material as shown at 28, Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 shows a modified Jform of our device including a telescopic handle 30 having a sleeve 31 inserted therein, this sleeve receiving a bolt 32 which may be connected to the control lever 33 by means of a nut 34 or otherwise. A disc 35 is mounted on the neck of the sleeve 31. When the elevator motor is at rest and the control lever is in its neutral position, the disc 35 is received in a cavity 36 formed in the top of a control lbonv 37, or in a separate piece adapted for attachment to an ordinary control box. Grooves 38 and 39 communicate with the cavity 36 and are ot proper width to receive the disc 35.

rThe operation of the device shown in Fig. 5 is essentially similar to that of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 4. When it is desired to operate the motor, the operator grasps the handle 30 and pushes in this handle to bring the disc 35 into registry with the groove 39 and moves the handle to the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 5. This starts the motor in one direction and when it is desired to reverse the motor, the operator moves the handle in the opposite direction with the disc 35 moving in the groove 39 until it reaches the cavity 36, whereupon if the operator desires to reverse the motor he pulls out the handlev until the disc 35 registers with the groove 38. and then moves the handle in the groove 38 to the opposite end of the path of travel ofk the control leve'r.

It will be observed that the operator, no matter how inexperienced, cannot operate the control lever in an improper manner, and that he is compelled to stop the movementfot the lever midway between its limits of movement, thereby giving the resistance magnets time to release before the circuit is completed in the reverse direction, We are aware that control devices having oft'- set grooves have heretofore been employed for various purposes, but we consider that we are the first to'provide an attachment of this kind which is suitable for application to existing control boxes. We also consider that we are the first to provide such a device with the arrangement of slots and guide surfaces herein described.

While We have shown and described the construction which we now prefer to employ, it will be 'understood that various changes in the construction and arrangement of parts may be made within the scope of our invention as set forth in the appended claims.

lVe claim as our invention.

l. A motor reverse control device comprising a member shaped for attachment to a motor control box for electric elevators, the said member having offset grooves formed therein and having recesses at the ends of said grooves, said member also having an opening providing communication between said grooves.

2. A motor reverse control device comprising a member having oii'set overlapping grooves formed therein and having a recess providing communication between said grooves, said recess being soplaced as to leave recesses at the inner ends of said grooves, and flaring surfaces formed at the formed at the outer ends of said grooves and forming guideways.

l. A motor reverse control device comprising a handle adapted for attachment to the operating lever of a control boX for electric elevators, said handle comprising a tubular grip member, a lateral projection secured rigidly to said grip member, a pin eX- tending into said grip member and adapted to be attached to the operating lever of a control box, a stop device engaged by said projection when at a mid point on said pin, and oppositely disposed springs arranged to maintain said projection at said intermediate position on said pin.

5. A motor reverse control device comprising a handle adapted for attachment to the operating lever of a motor control box for electric elevators, the said handle comprising a tubular grip member, a sleeve rigidly secured to said member and having a circular lateral projection7 a pin extending slidably into said sleeve and having its outer end adapted for attachment `to the operating `lever of the control box, a screw eX- tending from the inner end of said pin and having an enlargement at its outer end, a spring extending between the inner end of said sleeve and the said enlargement, and another spring surrounding said pin, between the said operating lever and the said sleeve, the said springs serving to maintain the said circular projection in predetermined position. In testimony whereof we, the said EMMER F. GWYNN and HARRY H. JAMES, have hereunto set our hands.

' EMMER F. GWYNN.

HARRY H. JAMES. 

